Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Nov. 8) – Waynesburg sophomore quarterback Brad Dawson put together one of the best aerial performances in program history on Saturday as he led the Yellow Jackets to an entertaining 50-35 victory over Thiel.

The win jumped Waynesburg's record in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) to 2-3 and pushed them back over .500 on the season (5-4).

Dawson's 453 yards passing were the second-highest amount in a single game by a Jacket quarterback, according to the Waynesburg record books. The Pittsburgh native came just shy of breaking John Huntey's mark of 467 yards, which was set in 1968.

The transfer from California University of Pa. completed 26-of-44 pass attempts and recorded two touchdown passes on the day. He also ran in a score. He also spread the wealth beautifully, completing passes to a whopping 10 different receivers.

After winning the opening toss, the host Tomcats (2-7, 1-4) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after Brendan Taylor snared a six-yard touchdown pass from Thiel quarterback Willie Bova with 11:16 on the clock in the first quarter. John Madeline tacked on the extra point.

That was the last time the Tomcats held the lead as the Waynesburg offense exploded behind Dawson and freshman starting running back Justin Falcon, who quintupled his touchdown total on the season.

Two drives after Thiel scored the game's first score. Falcon found the end zone on a one-yard run with 5:57 to go in the first quarter to cut the lead to 7-6. Freshman kicker Bryan Arbes tacked on the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.

That was the first of three unanswered touchdowns for Waynesburg, all of which were run in by Falcon. The second score came with 3:50 left in the first quarter, and the third came on an electrifying 24-yard run to pay dirt three minutes into the second quarter. The last of those three scores put the Jackets up 20-7.

Though Arbes missed an extra point on Falcon's second touchdown, he made history on his first-and-only field goal attempt of the day, which came with 4:02 left in the first half.

After drilling the 28-yard kick, the freshman from Monongahela, Pa. broke Ben Popson's record for field goals made in a season with his 12^th. The previous record was set in 2004.The chip shot boot also put the Jackets up 23-7, which was the score at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Tomcats were able to trim the Jackets' lead down to 23-14, when Taylor and Bova hooked up on yet another touchdown, this one from 10 yards away, three minutes into the period. Another Madeline PAT ran the score to 23-14.

The Jackets responded on their ensuing drive when Falcon scored his fourth-and-final touchdown of the day from 14 yards away to cap a five-play, 57-yard drive. Arbes' kick put Waynesburg up 30-14.

However, Thiel wasn't about to give up in front of their home crowd as Brice Mertiff pounded in a one-yard scoring run at the end of a nine-play, 75-yard march to the Jackets' end zone with 5:56 left in the quarter. Madeline knocked his third PAT of the day through and cut Waynesburg's lead back down to single digits (30-21).

After Mertiff's score, Dawson took over and effectively put the game out of reach. The first-year starter at quarterback recorded his first score of the game when he hit senior halfback Chris Smithley with a nine-yard touchdown pass to put the icing on a five-play, 70-yard drive. Arbes' kick put the Jackets ahead 37-21.

Ahead 16 going into the fourth quarter, Dawson added a running touchdown to his day's work, finding the end zone from two yards away with 12:50 left in the game to give Waynesburg a 44-21 lead. The score capped an impressive 11-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up 5:03 of game time.

On their next possession, the Jackets took considerably less time to traverse 80 yards as Dawson hit wide receiver Bobby Francis, who took it the rest of the way for a score that jumped Waynesburg ahead 50-21.

The Tomcats got one more touchdown run from Mertiff and a touchdown pass from Bova to receiver Hiro Amano to trim the lead to down to 50-35, but the Jackets recovered an onside kick with just under three minutes left and managed to run the rest of the game clock out, preserving the victory.

Along with Dawson and Falcon, several other members of the Waynesburg offense had big days in Greenville. Sophomore wide receiver Ray Hightower II recorded his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the year as he pulled in five balls for a personal season-high 155 yards.

Smithley led the team with six catches for 41 yards and a touchdown.

Falcon was the game's leading rusher with 72 yards on 18 carriers. The Jefferson-Morgan graduate actually out-ran the entire Thiel offense, which managed just 51 total yards on the ground. He also became the team's leading rusher on the season (533 yards).

Though it came in defeat, Bova put together a big game for himself, completing 26-of-44 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. He was picked off three times, however.

Taylor led the game with nine catches, which went for 112 yards and two scores, while Tim Van Horn and Dan Mackall pulled in seven catches each. Van Horn rolled up 96 yards on the day, and Mackall chipped in 77.

On the defensive side of things, junior outside linebacker Ryan Krull led Waynesburg in tackles with 11, five of them being solo hits. Junior safety Andy Lauterbach, junior cornerback Scott Cree and freshman defensive back Sean Hunt each recorded interceptions on the day.

The Thiel defense was led by defensive lineman William Haase, who was second on the team with six tackles, all of them solo stops, two tackles for loss and one of the team's three sacks.

On the day, the Waynesburg offense put together a whopping 547 total yards against the Thiel defense. According to the Jacket record book, that is the seventh-highest team total in a game in program history.

Waynesburg also did the little things well, drawing only four penalties for 37 yards, winning the time of possession battle (33:35 to 26:25) and holding a plus-five advantage in turnovers.

The Jackets return home next week to wrap up the 2008 regular season on Nov. 15, when they take on Washington & Jefferson in their PAC Football Rivalry Week game. The contest is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 p.m.